If you believe you can, you can!

There’s a saying I’ve heard..

“If you believe you can’t, you’re right, if you believe you can, you’re right”

I am sure you have all heard this or something close to it even if not in the exact words.  So do you believe all the sayings you hear?  Well, yes and no.  I mean, you wouldn’t take the saying “Spare the rod, spoil the child” literally now, would you?  Basically it’s saying to teach your children the right thing and make them do the right thing so they learn how to.

So does something like believing you can make it true?  Well, I think there is definitely a degree of truth to it…..how much so, I leave up to you to decide, but let’s just look at it a bit more closely.  Now, I could believe I could be a professional wrestler, but quite truthfully with my conditions and my size, it’s not really sensible or practical.  

Or I could say I believe I can be an air stewardess.  The problem would be not only that I would need an electric wheelchair to be ‘up” for however long the flight takes and NONE of them fit down the aisles.  And then another issue would be my reach - I couldn’t reach across 3 seats and hand someone their meal or drinks and snacks because I’m too short at 4’ 9”!  And I can’t even REACH the overhead lockers - not to mention the need of pushing trolleys, pulling out blankets etc…yep.  Just not happening.

As you can see from these two examples, all the believing I do would never make either one practical for me.  It won’t change the things that fundamentally make them impossible for me to do.  And no matter what I do I can’t change my size or the fact that I couldn’t ever stand and walk for the times that would be needed.  

But then you come to something like my writing.  Can I do it?  Absolutely.  Did I always believe in my ability to do so?  Nope.  My belief in my own writing skills are still shaky but I read an email today that gave me hope because the writer said that even as a veteran writer, he still gets the inner critic telling him he can’t.  

Can everybody write?  Well, yes.  They can learn how to create each individual letter and then how to put them into words and sentences.  But the inspiration, that spark of knowingness, that feeling that you have to share what you have heard/seen/thought/felt/touched - that’s the almost magic part that doesn’t come to everyone.  

So how do you believe you can?  Well, I think it comes down to personality and individual factors.  I know I can write when I have the inspiration, but if you asked me to write a book about a computer language, I would look at you in horror!  I don’t understand computers, let alone one of the languages.  However, I am sure my husband could if he wanted to!  In his last company he actually wrote the training manual for something computer related to the company.

My feeling is that believing you can is one thing, but you have to look at other factors as well when considering what you’re going to believe you can do.  There’s no point in believing you can do something impossible for you because you can’t make it possible.  

However, having said that, I DO want you to believe in yourself and your abilities.  Look at them and think what they could relate to.  If you want to ask other people who know you what they think as well, you can certainly do so.  But don’t aim for the moon and hope you might land in a tree.  Aim high, ABSOLUTELY, while ensuring that you ARE actually capable of doing what you want.

You can be anything you want and do what you like and it’s great you are willing to step out and try things.  Seriously, though, be sensible with your reasoning before you start.  You don’t want to give yourself problems doing something that’s actually physically or mentally or emotionally impossible for you.

So yes, believe you can.  And you WILL!  BUT please make sure you are realistic in your expectations.

Do you agree?